Robert Feldman

Robert Feldman is a professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is the author of Understanding Psychology, now in its ninth edition, as well as Essentials of Understanding Psychology. He is also the author of P.O.W.E.R. Learning and Your Life, from which this chapter comes.

Learning OutcomesBy the time you finish this chapter, you will be able toLO 1.1 Discuss the benefits of a college education.

LO 1.2 Identify the basic principles of P.O.W.E.R. Learning.

LO 1.3 Explain how expert students use P.O.W.E.R. Learning.

LO 1.4 Compare and contrast learning styles and identify your own.

he day has started off with a bang. Literally. As Abbie Suarez struggles sleepily to turn off her clock radio's continual buzzing at 6:35 a.m., she knocks it off the table next to her bed. The loud bang it makes as it hits the floor not only wakes her fully but also rouses her daughters, sleeping

in the next room, who grumble resentfully.

Struggling out of bed, Abbie reflects on the day ahead. It's one of her most intense days—two shifts at two different part-time jobs on different sides of town. She also must get her children ready for school and then take them to swimming lessons in the afternoon. And on top of all that, she has an exam that morning at the college she attends.

After a quick shower, Abbie manages to get her daughters off to school, and then joins her fellow paralegal students on campus. She glances at her paralegal textbook and feels a wave of anxiety flood over her: Will I do well enough on my exam? How will I manage to hold down two jobs, take care of my family, and have enough time to study? Will I find a job as a paralegal after graduation? Will I make my children proud? … And underlying all these questions is a single challenge: Will I be successful in college and in my career?

Looking Ahead

Whether academic pursuits are a struggle or come easily to you … whether you are returning to college or attending for the first time … whether you are gaining new skills for your current job or are starting on a whole new career path, college is a challenge. Every one of us has concerns about our capabilities and motivation, and new situations—like starting college—make us wonder how well we'll succeed.

That's where this book comes in. It is designed to help you learn the most effective ways to approach the challenges you encounter, not just in college but in your career, too. It will teach you practical strategies, hints, and tips that can lead you to success, all centered around an approach to achieving classroom and career success: P.O.W.E.R. Learning.

This book is designed to be useful in a way that is different from other college texts. It presents information in a hands-on format. It's meant to be used—not just read. Write on it, underline words and sentences, use a highlighter, circle key points, and complete the questionnaires right in the book. The more exercises you do, the more you'll get from the book. Remember, this is a book to help you throughout college and throughout your career, so it's a good idea to invest your time here and now. If the learning techniques you master here become second nature, the payoff will be enormous.

This first chapter lays out the basics of P.O.W.E.R. Learning. It will also help you determine the way in which you learn best and how you can use your personal learning style to study more effectively.

Chapter 1, “Becoming an Expert Student” from R. Feldman, POWER Learning 2005 with Power Text, 2/e. Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education LLC. Reprinted by permission of McGraw-Hill Education, LLC. 1040L

LO 1.1  Why Go to College?

Congratulations. You're in college.

But why? Although it seems as if it should be easy to answer why you're continuing your education, for most people it's not so simple. The reasons that people go to college vary from the practical (“I need new skills for my job”), to the lofty (“I want to build a better life for my family”), to the vague

T

(“Why not?—I don't have anything better to do”). Consider your own reasons for attending college, as you complete Try It 1.

It's likely that one of your primary motivations for attending college is to further your career. In fact, surveys of first-year college students at all types of institutions show that the vast majority say they want to learn about things that interest them, get training for a specific career, land a better job, and make more money (see Figure 1.1). Statistics clearly demonstrate that a college education helps people find better jobs. On average, college graduates earn about 75 percent more than high school graduates over their working lifetime. That difference adds up: Over the course of their working lifetimes, college graduates earn close to a million dollars more than those with only a high school degree. Furthermore, as jobs become increasingly complex and technologically sophisticated, college will become more and more of a necessity.

figure 1.1Choosing CollegeThese are the most frequently cited reasons that first-year college students gave for why they enrolled in college when asked in a national survey.

Try It!Why Am I Going to College?

Place a 1, 2, and 3 by the three most important reasons that you have for attending college:

___ I want to get a good job when I graduate.___ I want to make my family proud.___ I couldn't find a job.___ I want to try something different.___ I want to get ahead at my current job.

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___ I want to pursue my dream job.___ I want to become a more cultured person.___ I want to make more money.___ I want to learn more about things that interest me.___ A mentor or role model encouraged me to go.___ I want to prove to others that I can succeed.

Now consider the following:

What do your answers tell you about yourself?•

What reasons besides these did you think about when you were applying to college?•

How do you think your reasons compare with those of other students who are starting college with you?

•

To Try It online, go to www.mhhe.com/power.

Journal Reflections

My School Experiences

Throughout this book, you will be given opportunities to write out your thoughts. These opportunities—called Journal Reflections—offer a chance to think critically about the chapter topics and record your personal reactions to them. As you create your reflections, be honest—to yourself and to your instructor.

Completing these Journal Reflections provides a variety of benefits. Not only will you be able to mull over your past and present academic experiences, you'll begin to see patterns in the kind of difficulties—and successes!—you encounter. You'll be able to apply solutions that worked in one situation to others. And one added benefit: You'll get practice in writing.

If you save these entries and return to them later, you may be surprised at the changes they record over the course of the term. You can either write them out and keep an actual journal, or create your journal electronically at the P.O.W.E.R. Learning website at www.mhhe.com/power.

Think of one of the successful experiences you've had during your previous years in school or on the job. What was it?

1.

What made the experience successful? What did you learn from your success?2.

Think of an experience you had in school that did not go as you had hoped, and briefly describe it. Why did it occur?

3.

What could you have done differently to make it successful? What did you learn from it?4.

Based on these experiences of success and failure, what general lessons did you learn that could help you be more successful in the future, in the classroom and in your career?

5.

But even if you feel the only reason you're in college is to help your career prospects, remember that the value of college extends far beyond dollars and cents. Consider these added reasons for pursuing a college education:

You'll learn to think critically and communicate better. Here's what one student said about his college experience after he graduated: “It's not about what you major in or which classes you take… . It's really about learning to think and to communicate. Wherever you end up, you'll need to be able to analyze and solve problems—to figure out what needs to be done and do it.”Education improves your ability to understand the world—to understand it as it is now, and to prepare to understand it as it will be.You'll be able to better deal with advances in knowledge and technology that are changing the world. Genetic engineering … drugs to reduce forgetfulness … computers that respond to our voices. No one knows what the future will hold, but you can prepare for it through a college education. Education can provide you with the intellectual tools that you can apply regardless of the specific situation in which you find yourself.You'll acquire skills and perspectives that will shape how you deal with new situations and challenges. The only certainty about how your life will unfold is that you will be surprised at what is in store for you. College prepares you to deal with the unexpected that characterizes all our lives.You'll be better prepared to live in a world of diversity. The racial and ethnic composition of the United States is changing rapidly. Whatever your ethnicity, chances are you'll be working and living with people whose backgrounds, lifestyles, and ways of thinking may be entirely different from your own.You won't be prepared for the future unless you understand others and their cultural backgrounds—as well as how your own cultural background affects you.You'll make learning a lifelong habit. College isn't the end of your education. There's no job you'll have that won't change over time, and you'll be required to learn new skills. College starts you down the path to lifelong learning.

To help you attain these benefits, it's time to introduce you to a process that will help you achieve success, both in college and in life beyond: P.O.W.E.R. Learning.

LO 1.2  P.O.W.E.R. Learning:

The Five Key Steps to Achieving Success

P.O.W.E.R. Learning itself is merely an acronym—a word formed from the first letters of a series of steps—that will help you take in, process, and make use of the information you'll acquire in college. It will help you achieve your goals, both while you are in college and after you graduate.

Prepare, Organize, Work, Evaluate, and Rethink. That's it. It's a simple framework, but an effective one. Using the systematic framework that P.O.W.E.R. Learning provides (and which is illustrated in the P.O.W.E.R. Plan diagram on page 6) will increase your chances of success at any task, from writing a college paper to buying your weekly groceries to filling out a purchase order.

Keep this in mind: P.O.W.E.R. Learning isn't a product that you can simply pull down off the bookshelf and use without thinking. P.O.W.E.R. Learning is a process, and you are the only one who can make it succeed. Without your personal investment in the process, P.O.W.E.R. Learning consists of just words on paper.

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Relax, though. You already know each of the elements of P.O.W.E.R. Learning, and you may discover that you are already putting this process, or parts of it, to work for you. You've applied and been accepted into college. You may have also held down a job, started a family, and paid your monthly bills. Each of these accomplishments required that you use P.O.W.E.R. Learning. What you'll be doing throughout this book is becoming more aware of these methods and how they can be used to help you in situations you will encounter in college and your career.

Everyone goes to school for their own reasons. Gwen recently visited a friend in the hospital and was struck by how much she wanted to be a part of the health-care community. John has survived several rounds of layoffs at his job and wants to make himself more marketable.

Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said that travelers taking a long journey must begin with a single step.

But before they even take that first step, travelers need to know several things: what their destination is, how they're going to get there, how they'll know when they reach the destination, and what they'll do if they have trouble along the way. In the same way, you need to know where you're headed as you embark on the academic journeys involved in college. Whether it be a major, long-term task, such as landing a new and better job, or a more limited activity, such as getting ready to complete a paper due in the near future, you'll need to prepare for the journey.

Setting GoalsBefore we seek to accomplish any task, all of us do some form of planning. The trouble is that most of the time such planning is done without conscious thinking, as if we are on autopilot. However, the key to success is to make sure that planning is systematic.

The best way to plan systematically is to use goal-setting strategies. In many cases, goals are clear and direct. It's obvious that our goal in washing dishes is to have the dishes end up clean. We know that our goal at the gas station is to fill the car's tank with gas. We go to the post office to buy stamps and mail letters.

Other goals are not so clear-cut. In fact, the more important the task—such as going to college—the more complicated our goals may be.

From the perspective of …

A STUDENT What goals did you set when you decided to go school? What can you do to ensure that you meet these goals?

What's the best way to set appropriate goals? Here are some guidelines:

“Goal setting, as far as I can see it, is simply a state of mind, a way of thinking about things. A goal setter

makes sure he accomplishes what he needs to accomplish.”

Greg Gottesman, Stanford University

Set both long-term and short-term goals. Long-term goals are aims relating to major accomplishments that take some time to achieve. Short-term goals are relatively limited steps you would take on the road to accomplishing your long-term goals. For example, one of the primary reasons you're in college is to achieve the long-term goal of helping your career. But to reach that goal, you have to accomplish a series of short-term goals, such as completing a set of required courses and earning your degree. Even these short-term goals can be broken down into shorter-term goals. In order to complete a required course, for instance, you have to accomplish short-term goals, such as completing a paper, taking several tests, and so on. For practice in setting long- and short-term goals, complete Try It 2 on page 8, “What Are Your Goals?” Make goals realistic and attainable. Someone once said, “A goal without a plan is but a dream.” We'd all like to win gold medals at the Olympics or be the CEO of Nike or write best-selling novels. Few of us are likely to achieve such goals.Be honest with yourself. There is nothing wrong with having big dreams. But it is important to be realistically aware of all that it takes to achieve them. If our long-term goals are unrealistic and we don't achieve them, the big danger is that we may wrongly reason that we are inept and lack

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ability, then use this as an excuse for giving up. If goals are realistic, we can develop a plan to attain them, spurring us on to attain more.State goals in terms of behavior that can be measured against current accomplishments. Goals should represent some measurable change from a current set of circumstances. We want our behavior to change in some way that can usually be expressed in terms of numbers—to show an increase (“raise my grade point average 10 percent”) or a decrease (“reduce wasted time by two hours each week”); or to be maintained (“keep in touch with my out-of-town friends by sending four e-mail messages each month”), developed (“participate in one workshop on job interview skills”), or restricted (“reduce my cellphone expenses 10 percent by texting less”).Goals should involve behavior over which you have control. We all want world peace and an end to poverty. Few of us have the resources or capabilities to bring either about. In contrast, it is realistic to want to work in small ways to help others, such as by volunteering at a local food bank.Identify how your short-term goals fit with your long-term goals. Your goals should not be independent of one another. Instead, they should fit together into a larger dream of who you want to be. Every once in a while, step back and consider how what you're doing today relates to the kind of career that you would ultimately want to have.

Try It!What Are Your Goals?

Before you begin any journey, you need to know where you are going. To plan your academic journey—and your later career—you first need to set goals. Short-term goals are relatively limited objectives that bring you closer to your ultimate goal. Long-term goals are aims relating to major accomplishments that take more time to achieve.

In this Try It, think about your short- and long-term academic and career goals for a few minutes, and then list them. Because short-term goals are based on what you want to accomplish in the long term, first identify your long-term goals. Then list the short-term goals that will help you reach your long-term goals. An example is provided for the first goal:

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After you complete the chart, consider how easy or difficult it was to identify your long-term goals. How many of your long-term goals relate to college, and how many to your future career? Do any of your short-term goals relate to more than one long-term goal?

By determining where you want to go and expressing your goals in terms that can be measured, you have already made a lot of progress. But there's another step you must take on the road to success.

The second step in P.O.W.E.R. Learning is to organize the tools you'll need to accomplish your goals. Building on the goal-setting work you've undertaken in the preparation stage, it's time to determine the best way to accomplish the goals you've identified.

How do you do this? Suppose you've decided to paint a room in your house. Let's say that you've already determined the color you want and the kind of paint you need (the preparation step in P.O.W.E.R. Learning). The next stage involves buying the paint and brushes and preparing the room for being painted—all aspects of organizing for the task.

Similarly, your academic success will hinge to a large degree on the thoroughness of your organization for each academic task that you face. In fact, one of the biggest mistakes that students make in college is plunging into an academic project—studying for a test, writing a paper, completing an in-class assignment—without being organized.

The Two Kinds of Organization: Physical and MentalOn a basic level is physical organization, involving the mechanical aspects of task completion. For instance, you need to ask yourself if you have the appropriate tools, such as pens, paper, and a calculator. If you're using a computer, do you have access to a printer? Do you have a way to back up your files? Do you have the books and other materials you'll need to complete the assignment? Will the library be open when you need it? Do you have a comfortable place to work?

Mental organization is even more critical. Mental organization is accomplished by considering and reviewing the academic skills that you'll need to successfully complete the task at hand. You are an academic general in command of considerable forces; you will need to make sure your forces—the basic skills you have at your command—are at their peak of readiness.

For example, if you're working on a math assignment, you'll want to consider the basic math skills that you'll need and brush up on them. Just actively thinking about this will help you organize mentally. Similarly, you'd want to mentally review your knowledge of engine parts before beginning repair work (either in class or on the side of the road!). Why does producing mental organization matter? The answer is that it provides a context for when you actually begin to work. Organizing paves the way for better subsequent performance.

Course ConnectionsLooking at the Big PictureIt's natural to view college as a series of small tasks—classes to attend, a certain number of pages to read each week, a few papers due during the term, quizzes and final exams to study for, and so on.

But such a perspective may lead you to miss what college, as a whole, is all about. Using the P.O.W.E.R. Learning framework can help you take the long view of your education, considering how it helps you achieve your long- and short-term goals for your professional and personal life (the Prepare step) and what you'll need to do to maximize your success (the Organize step). By preparing and organizing even before you step foot in the classroom for the first time, you'll be able to consider what it is that you want to get out of college and how it fits into your life as a whole.

Too often students or workers on the job are in a hurry to meet a deadline and figure they had better just dive in and get it done. Organizing can actually save you time, because you're less likely to be anxious and end up losing your way as you work to complete your task.

Much of this book is devoted to strategies for determining—before you begin work on a task—how to develop the mental tools for completing an assignment. However, as you'll see, all of these strategies share a common theme: Success comes not from a trial-and-error approach but from following a systematic plan for achievement. Of course, this does not mean that there will be no surprises along the way, nor that simple luck is never a factor in great accomplishments. But it does mean that we often can make our own luck through careful preparation and organization.

You're ready. The preliminaries are out of the way. You've prepared and you've organized. Now it's time to get started actually doing the work.

In some ways work is the easy part, because—if you conscientiously carried out the preparation and organization stage—you should know exactly where you're headed and what you need to do to get there.

It's not quite so easy, of course. How effectively you'll get down to the business at hand depends on many factors. Some may be out of your control. There may be a power outage that closes down the library or a massive traffic jam that delays your getting to work. But most factors are—or should be—under your control. Instead of getting down to work, you may find yourself thinking up “useful” things to do—like finally cleaning underneath the couch—or simply sitting captive in front of the TV. This kind of obstacle to work relates to motivation.

Finding the Motivation to Work“If only I could get more motivated, I'd do so much better with my ” (insert schoolwork, job, diet, exercising, or the like—you fill in the blank).

All of us have said something like this at one time or another. We use the concept of motivation—or its lack—to explain why we just don't work hard at a task. But when we do that, we're fooling ourselves. We all have some motivation, that inner power and psychological energy that directs and fuels our behavior. Without any motivation, we'd never get out of bed in the morning.

We've also seen evidence of how strong our motivation can be. Perhaps you love to work out at the gym. Or maybe your love of music helped you learn to play the guitar, making practicing for hours a pleasure rather than a chore. Or perhaps you're a single parent, juggling work, school, and family, and you get up early every morning to make breakfast for your kids before they go off to school.

All of us are motivated. The key to success in the classroom and on the job is to tap into, harness, and direct that motivation.

If we assume that we already have all the motivation we need, P.O.W.E.R. Learning becomes a matter of turning the skills we already possess into a habit. It becomes a matter of redirecting our psychological energies toward the work we wish to accomplish.

In a sense, everything you'll encounter in this book can help you improve your use of the motivation that you already have. But there's a key concept that underlies the control of motivation—viewing success as a consequence of effort:

Suppose, for example, you've gotten a good performance review from your new supervisor. The boss beams at you as she discusses your results. How do you feel?

You will undoubtedly be pleased, of course. But at the same time you might think to yourself, “Don't get cocky. It was just luck.” Or perhaps you explain your success by thinking, “The new boss just doesn't know me very well.”

“The function of the university is not simply to teach bread-winning, or to furnish teachers for the public schools or to be a center of polite society: it is, above

all, to be the organ of that fine adjustment between real life and the growing knowledge of life, an

adjustment which forms the secret of civilization.”

W.E.B. DuBois, author, The Souls of Black Folk, 1903

If you often think this way, you're cheating yourself. Using this kind of reasoning when you succeed, instead of patting yourself on the back and thinking with satisfaction, “All my hard work really paid off,” is sure to undermine your future success.

A great deal of psychological research has shown that thinking you have no control over what happens to you sends a powerful and damaging message to your self-esteem—that you are powerless to change things. Just think of how different it feels to say to yourself, “Wow, I worked at it and did it,” as compared with “I lucked out” or “It was so easy that anybody could have done it.”

In the same way, we can delude ourselves when we try to explain our failures. People who see themselves as the victims of circumstance may tell themselves, “I'm just not smart enough,” when they don't do well on an academic task. Or they might say, “My coworkers don't have children to take care of.”

The way in which we view the causes of success and failure is, in fact, directly related to our success. Students who generally see effort and hard work as the reason behind their performance usually do better in college. Workers who see their job performance in this way usually do better in their careers. It's not hard to see why: When such individuals are working on a task, they feel that the greater the effort they put forth, the greater their chances of success. So they work harder. They believe that they have control over their success, and if they fail, they believe they can do better in the future.

Here are some tips for keeping your motivation alive, so you can work with your full energy behind you:

There are always things we can use as excuses for our own failures. Can you think of a time when you shifted blame away from yourself for a failure? Was it a reasonable course of action? Why or why not?

Take responsibility for your failures—and successes. When you do poorly on a test, don't blame the teacher, the textbook, or a job that kept you from studying. When you miss a work deadline, don't blame your boss or your incompetent coworkers. Analyze the situation, and see how you could have changed what you did to be more successful in the future. At the same time, when you're successful, think of the things you did to bring about that success.Think positively. Assume that the strengths that you have will allow you to succeed and that, if you have difficulty, you can figure out what to do, or get the help you need to eventually succeed.Accept that you can't control everything. Seek to understand which things can be changed and which cannot. You might be able to get an extension on a paper due date, but you are probably not going to be excused from a college-wide requirement.

To further explore the causes of academic success, consider the questions in Try It 3, then discuss them with your classmates.

“Great, I'm done with the work. Now I can move on.”

It's natural to feel relief when you've finished the work necessary to fulfill the basic requirements of a task. After all, if you've written the five double-spaced pages required for an assignment or completed a difficult task at work, why shouldn't you heave a sigh of relief and just hand in your work?

The answer is that if you stop at this point, you'll almost be guaranteed a mediocre result. Do you think Shakespeare dashed off the first draft of Hamlet and, without another glance, sent it to the Globe Theater for production? Do professional athletes just put in the bare minimum of practice to get ready for a big game? Think of one of your favorite songs. Do you think the composer wrote it in one sitting and then performed it in a concert?

In every case, the answer is no. Even the greatest creation does not emerge in perfect form, immediately meeting all the goals of its producer. Consequently, the fourth step in the P.O.W.E.R. process is evaluation, which consists of determining how well the product or activity we have created matches our goals for it. Let's consider some steps to follow in evaluating what you've accomplished:

Take a moment to congratulate yourself and feel some satisfaction. Whether it's been studying for a test, writing a paper, completing a report, or completing a hard task at work, you've done something important. You've moved from ground zero to a spot that's closer to your goal.Compare what you've accomplished with the goals you're seeking to achieve. Think back to the goals, both short-term and long-term, that you're seeking to achieve. How closely does what you've done match what you're aiming to do? For instance, if your short-term goal is to complete a math problem set with no errors, you'll need to check over the work carefully to make sure you've made no mistakes.Have an out-of-body experience: Evaluate your accomplishments as if you were a respected mentor from your past. If you've written a paper, reread it from the perspective of a favorite teacher. If you've prepared a report, imagine you're presenting it to a boss who taught you a lot. Think about the comments you'd give if you were this person.Evaluate what you've done as if you were your current instructor or supervisor. Now exchange bodies and minds again. This time, consider what you're doing from the perspective of the person who gave you the assignment. How would he or she react to what you've done? Have you followed the assignment to the letter? Is there anything you've missed?Based on your evaluation, revise your work. If you're honest with yourself, it's unlikely that your first work will satisfy you. So go back to Work and revise what you've done. But don't think of it as a step back: Revisions you make as a consequence of your evaluation bring you closer to your final goal. This is a case where going back moves you forward.

Try It! WORKING IN A

GROUP Examining the Causes of Success and Failure

Complete this Try It while working in a group. First, consider the following situations:

Although he made a few more sales calls than normal, Jack is told by his boss that he has failed to bring in any new business. Jack is disgusted with himself and says, “I'll never be good at attracting new clients. I'd better just give up and concentrate on the clients I already have.”

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Anne goes on a sales call and lands a major piece of new business. She is happy, but when her boss tells her the company as a whole has brought in lots of new business that month, she decides she only succeeded because the task was so easy.

2.

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Sales in Chen's division are slow. Because he isn't doing as well as he expected, he vows to perform better. He spends extra time researching and talking with potential clients, but sales only increase slightly. Distressed, he considers quitting his job because he thinks that he'll never be successful in sales.

3.

Now consider the following questions about each of the situations:

What did each salesperson conclude was the main cause of his or her performance?1.

What effect does this conclusion seem to have on the salesperson?2.

Taking an outsider's point of view, what would you think was probably the main cause of the salespeople's performance?

3.

What advice would you give each salesperson?4.

Now consider these broader questions:

What are the most important reasons why some people are more professionally successful than others?

1.

How much does ability determine success? How much does luck determine success? How much do circumstances determine success?

2.

If someone performs poorly at a job, what are the possible reasons for his or her performance? If someone performs well, what are the possible reasons for his or her performance? Is it harder to find reasons for good compared with poor performance? Why?

3.

They thought they had it perfect. But they were wrong.

In fact, it was a $1.5 billion mistake—a blunder on a grand scale. The finely ground mirror of the Hubble space telescope, designed to provide an unprecedented glimpse into the vast reaches of the universe, was not so finely ground after all.

Despite an elaborate system of evaluation designed to catch any flaws, there was a tiny blemish in the mirror that was not detected until the telescope had been launched into space and started to send back blurry photographs. By then, it seemed too late to fix the mirror.

Or was it? NASA engineers rethought the problem for months, devising, and then discarding, one potential fix after another. Finally, after bringing a fresh eye to the situation, they formulated a daring solution that involved sending a team of astronauts into space. Once there, a space-walking Mr. Goodwrench would install several new mirrors in the telescope, which could refocus the light and compensate for the original flawed mirror.

Although the engineers could not be certain that the $629 million plan would work, it seemed like a good solution, at least on paper. It was not until the first photos were beamed back to Earth, though, that NASA knew their solution was A-OK. These photos were spectacular.

It took months of reconsideration before NASA scientists could figure out what went wrong and devise a solution to the problem they faced. Their approach exemplifies—on a grand scale—the final step in P.O.W.E.R. Learning: rethinking.

To rethink what you've accomplished earlier means bringing a fresh—and clear—eye to what you've done. It involves using critical thinking, thinking that involves reanalyzing, questioning, and challenging our underlying assumptions. Whereas evaluation means considering how well what we have done matches our initial goals, rethinking means reconsidering not only the outcome of our efforts but also our goals and the ideas and the process we've used to reach them. Critically rethinking what you've done involves analyzing and synthesizing ideas, and seeing the connections between different concepts.

Rethinking involves considering whether our initial goals are practical and realistic or if they require modification. It also entails asking yourself what you would do differently if you could do it over again.

We'll be considering critical thinking throughout this book, examining specific strategies in every chapter. For the moment, the following steps provide a general framework for using critical thinking to rethink what you've accomplished:

Review how you've accomplished the task. Consider the approach and strategies you've used. What seemed to work best? Do they suggest any alternatives that might work better the next time?Question the outcome. Take a “big picture” look at what you have accomplished. Are you pleased and satisfied? Is there something you've somehow missed?Identify your underlying assumptions; then challenge them. Consider the assumptions you made in initially approaching the task. Are these underlying assumptions reasonable? If you had used different assumptions, would the result have been similar or different?Consider alternatives rejected earlier. You've likely discarded possible strategies and approaches prior to completing your task. Now's the time to think about those approaches once more and determine if they might have been more appropriate than the road you've followed.What would you do differently if you had the opportunity to try things again? It's not too late to change course.Finally, reconsider your initial goals. Are they achievable and realistic? Do your goals, and the strategies you used to attain them, need to be modified? Critically rethinking the objectives and goals that underlie your efforts is often the most effective route to success.

Career ConnectionsP.O.W.E.R. Learning and the World of WorkAs we've discussed, the P.O.W.E.R. Learning process has applications in both the classroom and on the job. In Career Connections boxes, we'll highlight ways in which the principles we're discussing can help you excel in the workplace. Take a look at these “help wanted” advertisements and online postings. They illustrate the importance of the components of P.O.W.E.R. Learning in a wide variety of fields.

LO 1.3  Completing the Process

The rethinking step of P.O.W.E.R. Learning is meant to help you understand your process of work and improve the final product if necessary. But mostly it is meant to help you grow, to become better at whatever it is you've been doing. Like a painter looking at his or her finished work, you may see a spot here or there to touch up, but don't destroy the canvas. Perfectionism can be as paralyzing as laziness. Keep in mind these key points:

Know that there's always another day. Your future success does not depend on any single assignment, paper, or test. Don't fall victim to self-defeating thoughts such as, “If I don't do well on this test, I'll never graduate” or “Everything is riding on this one project.” Nonsense. In school, on the job, and in life, there is almost always an opportunity to recover from a failure.Realize that deciding when to stop work is often as hard as getting started. Knowing when you have put in enough time studying for a test or have revised a paper sufficiently or have reviewed your figures adequately on a math problem set is as much a key to success as properly preparing. If you've carefully evaluated what you've done and seen that there's a close fit between your goals and your work, it's time to stop work and move on.Use the strategies that already work for you. Although the P.O.W.E.R. Learning framework provides a proven approach to attaining success, employing it does not mean that you should abandon strategies that have brought you success in the past. Using multiple approaches, and personalizing them, is the surest road to success.

As much as anything else, doing well in college and on the job depends on an awareness of yourself. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What do you do better than most people, and what are your areas for improvement? If you can answer such questions, you'll be able to harness the best of your talents and to anticipate challenges you might face. The next section will aid you in understanding yourself better by helping you identify your personal learning styles.

LO 1.4  Discovering Your Learning Styles

Members of the Trukese people, a small group of islanders in the South Pacific, often sail hundreds of miles on the open sea. They manage this feat with none of the navigational equipment used by Western sailors. No compass. No chronometer. No sextant. They don't even sail in a straight line. Instead, they zigzag back and forth. Yet they almost always reach their destination with precision.

Trukese sailors can't really explain how they learned to navigate or explain the processes that they use, but clearly they are successful sailors.

The case of Trukese sailors vividly illustrates how there are different ways to learn and to achieve our goals.

Each of us has preferred ways of learning, approaches that work best for us. Our success is not just dependent on how well we learn, but on how we learn.

A learning style reflects a person's preferred manner of acquiring, using, and thinking about knowledge. We don't have just one learning style but a variety of styles. Some involve our preferences regarding the way information is presented to us, some relate to how we think and learn most readily, and some relate to how our personality traits affect our performance. An awareness of your learning styles will help you in college by allowing you to study and learn course materials more effectively. On the job, knowing your learning styles will help you master new skills and techniques, ensuring you can keep up with changing office practices or an evolving industry.

We'll start by considering the preferences we have for how we initially perceive information.

What Is Your Preferred Receptive Learning Style?One of the most basic aspects of learning styles concerns the way in which we initially receive information from our sense organs—our receptive learning style. People have different strengths in terms of how they most effectively process information and which of their senses they prefer to use in learning. Specifically, there are four different types of receptive learning styles:

Read/write learning style. If you have a read/write learning style, you prefer information that is presented visually in a written format. You feel most comfortable reading, and you may recall the spelling of a word by thinking of how the word looks. You probably learn best when you have the opportunity to read about a concept rather than listening to a teacher explain it. Visual/graphic learning style. Those with a visual/graphic learning style learn most effectively when material is presented visually in a diagram or picture. You might recall the structure of an engine or a part of the human body by reviewing a picture in your mind, and you benefit from instructors who make frequent use of visual aids in class such as videos, maps, and models. Students with visual learning styles find it easier to see things in their mind's eye—to visualize a task or concept—than to be lectured about them. Auditory/verbal learning style. Have you ever asked a friend to help you put something together by having her read the directions to you while you worked? If you did, you may have an auditory/verbal learning style. People with auditory/verbal learning styles prefer listening to explanations rather than reading them. They love class lectures and discussions, because they can easily take in the information that is being talked about. Tactile/kinesthetic learning style. Those with a tactile/kinesthetic learning style prefer to learn by doing—touching, manipulating objects, and doing things. For instance, some people enjoy the act of writing because of the feel of a pencil or a computer keyboard—the tactile equivalent of

thinking out loud. Or they may find that it helps them to make a three-dimensional model to understand a new idea.

To get a sense of your own receptive learning style, complete Try It 4 on page 20. But remember, having a particular receptive learning style simply means that it will be easier to learn material that is presented in that style. It does not mean you cannot learn any other way!

From the perspective of …

A MEDICAL ASSISTANT You shouldn't see your learning style as a limitation. Repeating instructions aloud as a nursing assistant is one way for auditory learners to ensure they are comprehending instructions. How can you adapt your learning style in multiple career settings?

Receptive learning styles have implications for effective studying in class or learning new skills on the job:

If you have a read/write style, consider writing out summaries of information, highlighting and underlining written material, and using flash cards. Transform diagrams and math formulas into words.If you have a visual/graphic style, devise diagrams and charts. Translate words into symbols and figures.If you have an auditory/verbal style, recite material out loud when trying to learn it. Work with others in a group, talking through the material, and consider tape-recording lectures.

Steven Spielberg is a self-admitted visual learner. How can you use your own learning style to influence your career decisions?If you have a tactile/kinesthetic style, incorporate movement into your study. Trace diagrams, build models, arrange flash cards and move them around. Keep yourself active when learning, taking notes, drawing charts, and jotting down key concepts.

Multiple Intelligences: Showing Strength in Different DomainsDo you feel much more comfortable walking through the woods than navigating city streets? Are you an especially talented musician? Is reading and using a complicated map second nature to you?

If so, in each case you may be demonstrating a special and specific kind of intelligence. According to psychologist Howard Gardner, rather than asking “How smart are you?” we should be asking a different question: “How are you smart?” To answer the latter question, Gardner has developed a theory of multiple intelligences that offers a unique approach to understanding learning styles and preferences.

The multiple intelligences view says that we have eight different forms of intelligence, each relatively independent of the others and linked to a specific kind of information processing in our brains:

Logical-mathematical intelligence involves skills in problem solving and scientific thinking.

Linguistic intelligence is linked to the production and use of language.Spatial intelligence relates to skills involving spatial configurations, such as those used by artists and architects.Interpersonal intelligence is found in learners with particularly strong skills involving interacting with others, such as sensitivity to the moods, temperaments, motivations, and intentions of others.Intrapersonal intelligence relates to a particularly strong understanding of the internal aspects of oneself and having access to one's own feelings and emotions.Musical intelligence involves skills relating to music.Bodily kinesthetic intelligence relates to skills in using the whole body or portions of it in the solution of problems or in the construction of products or displays, exemplified by dancers, athletes, actor, and surgeons.Naturalist intelligence involves exceptional abilities in identifying and classifying patterns in nature.

All of us have the same eight kinds of intelligence, although in different degrees, and they form the core of our learning styles and preferences. These separate intelligences do not operate in isolation.

In any given day, graphic designers must be able to create amazing visuals and also do the requisite paperwork to accompany their projects. Which types of intelligence would be most important to succeed in this career?

Instead, any activity involves several kinds of intelligence working together. And, as Gardner points out, these eight intelligences may be only scratching the surface of what our capabilities are. He suggests there may be even more intelligences that shape how we interact with the world. For example, there may be an “existential intelligence,” which involves identifying and thinking about the fundamental questions of human existence.

Personality StylesOur learning styles are also influenced by our personality. Are you likely to perform at an open mic night at a café? Or is the idea of getting on a stage totally lacking in appeal (if not completely terrifying)? Do you relate to the world around you primarily through careful planning or by spontaneously reacting?

According to the rationale of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a questionnaire frequently used in business and organizational settings to place people in 1 of 16 categories, personality type plays a key role in determining how we react to different situations. Specifically, we work best in situations in which others—students, instructors, or coworkers—share our preferences and in which our personality is most suited to the particular task on which we are working. Four major personality dimensions are critical. Although we'll describe the extremes of each dimension, keep in mind that most of us fall somewhere between the end points of each dimension.

Introverts versus extraverts. A key difference between introverts and extraverts is whether they enjoy working with others. Independence is a key characteristic of introverted learners. They enjoy working alone and they are less affected by how others think and behave. In contrast, extraverts are outgoing and more affected by the behavior and thinking of others. They enjoy working with others, and they are energized by having other people around.Intuitors versus sensors. Intuitors enjoy solving problems and being creative. They get impatient with details, preferring to make leaps of judgment, and they enjoy the challenge of solving problems and taking a big-picture approach. People categorized as sensors, on the other hand, prefer a concrete, logical approach in which they can carefully analyze the facts of the situation. Although they are good with details, they sometimes miss the big picture.Thinkers versus feelers. Thinkers prefer logic over emotion. They reach decisions and solve problems by systematically analyzing a situation. In contrast, feeling types rely more on their emotional responses. They are aware of others and their feelings, and they are influenced by their personal values and attachments to others.Perceivers and judgers. Before drawing a conclusion, perceivers attempt to gather as much information as they can. Because they are open to multiple perspectives and appreciate all sides of an issue, they sometimes have difficulty completing a task. Judgers, in comparison, are quick and decisive. They like to set goals, accomplish them, and then move on to the next task.

Try It! PERSONAL STYLES

What's Your Receptive Learning Style?

Read each of the following statements and rank them in terms of their usefulness to you as learning approaches. Base your ratings on your personal experiences and preferences, using the following scale:

1 = Not at all useful2 = Not very useful3 = Neutral4 = Somewhat useful5 = Very useful

4

Scoring: The statements cycle through the four receptive learning styles in this order: (1) read/write; (2) visual/graphic; (3) auditory/verbal; and (4) tactile/kinesthetic.

To find your primary learning style, disregard your 1, 2, and 3 ratings. Add up your 4 and 5 ratings for each learning style (i.e., a “4” equals 4 points and a “5” equals 5 points). Use the following chart to link the statements to the learning styles and to write down your summed ratings:

The total of your rating points for any given style will range from a low of 0 to a high of 30. The highest total indicates your main receptive learning style. Don't be surprised if you have a mixed style, in which two or more styles receive similar ratings.

The Origins of Our Learning StylesFor many of us, our learning style preferences result from the kind of processing our brain “specializes” in. Left-brain processing concentrates more on tasks requiring verbal competence, such as speaking, reading, thinking, and reasoning. Information is processed sequentially, one bit at a time.

On the other hand, right-brain processing tends to concentrate more on the processing of information in nonverbal domains, such as the understanding of spatial relationships, recognition of patterns and drawings, music, and emotional expression. Furthermore, the right hemisphere tends to process information globally, considering it as a whole. Consequently, people who naturally tend toward right-brain processing might prefer visual/graphic learning styles.

Here are some key facts to remember about learning, personality, and processing styles:

You have a variety of styles. As you can see in the summary of different categories of styles in Table 1.1, there are several types of styles. For any given task or challenge, some types of styles may be more relevant than others. Furthermore, success is possible even when there is a mismatch between what you need to accomplish and your own pattern of preferred styles. It may take more work, but learning to deal with situations that require you to use less-preferred styles is important for college and your career.

Your style reflects your preferences regarding which abilities you like to use—not the abilities themselves. Styles are related to our preferences and the mental approaches we like to use. You may prefer to learn tactilely, but that in itself doesn't guarantee that the products that you create tactilely will be good. You still have to put in work!Your style will change over the course of your life. You can learn new styles and expand the range of learning experiences in which you feel perfectly comfortable. In fact, you can conceive of this book as one long lesson in learning styles, because it provides you with strategies for learning more effectively in a variety of ways.You should work on improving your less-preferred styles. Although it may be tempting, don't always make choices that increase your exposure to preferred styles and decrease your practice with less-preferred styles. The more you use approaches for which you have less of a preference, the better you'll be at developing the skills associated with those styles.Work cooperatively with others who have different styles. If your instructor or supervisor asks you to work cooperatively, seek out classmates or coworkers who have styles that are different

from yours. Not only will working with people with differing styles help you achieve collective success, but you can also learn from observing others' approaches to tackling tasks.

Speaking of Success

s the first in her family to attend college, Yajaira Gijon faced unique challenges. The daughter of immigrants, it took her 10 years to achieve her goal of attaining a degree.

“I didn't pay much attention in high school, and my grades suffered,” Gijon said. “But I pulled myself together after the death of a friend and decided to go to community college. My parents were surprised but very supportive.”

Because Gijon worked full time at a graphics design company, she went to school at night. She could take only a few courses each semester.

After four years of part-time study at her community college, she decided to pursue a fine arts degree at Columbia College Chicago. It wasn't easy.

“The first semester was pretty tough,” she said. “It was very competitive, and the instructors pushed you a lot. I wasn't used to that, and I had to rethink if I wanted to stay since I found it to be a frightening experience. But I told myself I just couldn't give up,” Gijon added.

Realizing she needed to put extra effort into her studies, Gijon made a commitment to being more involved.

“What I had to do was educate myself more and learn more about the design field,” she explained, “and so I joined a design group. I would go to the book store and pick up magazines and read through them looking for ideas. I also developed a sketch book and journal, jotting down my ideas and noting what the latest trends were.”

College became an increasingly important part of Gijon's life. “Monday through Friday I would make an effort to be at school either at the library or lab, even if I didn't have classes,” she said. “Being at school and seeing other students working hard motivated me.”

Gijon eventually plans to attend graduate school. “I have an interest in teaching, and I feel really strongly that I'd like to come back and teach in my community and be a role model for others,” she said.

“The sacrifices of my parents coming to this country inspired me to keep going,” she added. “If they can do that, then I can achieve my goals.”

[ RETHINK ]Why do you think joining a design group was helpful to Gijon as she continued her studies?•

What advantages might Gijon receive by taking a year off before going to graduate school? Can you think of any disadvantages?

•

A

Looking BackWhat are the benefits of a college education?

The reason first-year college students most often cite for attending college is to get a better job, and college graduates earn more on average than nongraduates.College also provides many other benefits. These include becoming well-educated, learning to think critically and communicate effectively, understanding the interconnections between different areas of knowledge and our place in history and the world, and understanding diversity.

What are the basic principles of P.O.W.E.R. Learning?

P.O.W.E.R. Learning is a systematic approach people can easily learn, using abilities they already possess, to acquire successful habits for learning and achieving personal goals.P.O.W.E.R. Learning involves Preparation, Organization, Work, Evaluation, and Rethinking.

How do expert students use P.O.W.E.R. Learning?

To prepare, learners set both long-term and short-term goals, making sure that their goals are realistic, measurable, and under their control—and will lead to their final destination.They organize the tools they will need to accomplish those goals.They get down to work on the task at hand. Using their goals as motivation, expert learners also understand that success depends on effort.They evaluate the work they've done, considering what they have accomplished in comparison with the goals they set for themselves during the preparation stage.Finally, they rethink, reflecting on the process they've used, taking a fresh look at what they have done, and critically rethinking their goals.

What are my learning styles, and how can I employ them to be more successful?

People have patterns of diverse learning styles—characteristic ways of acquiring and using knowledge.Learning styles include read/write, visual/graphic, auditory/verbal, and tactile/kinesthetic styles (the receptive learning styles).The multiple intelligences view says that we have eight different forms of intelligence, each relatively independent of the others.Personality styles that influence learning are classified along dimensions of introversion/extraversion, intuition/sensing, thinking/feeling, and perceiving/judging.Knowing your learning styles can help you identify the specific techniques that will allow you to master material in class and on the job most effectively.

[ KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS ]P.O.W.E.R. Learning (p. 5)

Long-term goals (p. 7)

Short-term goals (p. 7)

Motivation (p. 10)

Evaluation (p. 12)

Critical thinking (p. 14)

Learning style (p. 16)

Receptive learning style (p. 16)

Read/write learning style (p. 17)

Visual/graphic learning style (p. 17)

Auditory/verbal learning style (p. 17)

Tactile/kinesthetic learning style (p. 17)

Left-brain processing (p. 21)

Right-brain processing (p. 22)

[ RESOURCES ]AT SCHOOL

Every college provides a significant number of resources to help its students succeed and thrive, ranging from the activities coordination office to a multicultural center to writing labs to career centers. You can check them out on your college's website or phone directory to see which of the following resources are available to you.

For example, here's a list of some typical resources, many of which we'll be discussing in future chapters:

Activities/Clubs Office•

Adult and reentry center•

Advising center•

Alumni Office•

Art gallery•

Bookstore•

Career center•

Chaplain/religious services•

Child care center•

Cinema/theater•

Computing center/computer labs•

Continuing education•

Disability center (learning or physical disabilities)•

Financial aid•

Fitness center/gymnasium•

Health center•

Honors program•

Housing center•

Information center•

Intramural sports•

Language lab•

Lost and found•

Math lab•

Multicultural center•

Museum•

Online Education (distance learning) Office•

Off-campus housing and services•

Ombudsman/conflict resolution•

Photography lab•

Police/campus security•

Post Office•

Printing center•

Registration Office•

Residential Life Office•

School newspaper•

Student Government Office•

Student Affairs Office•

Study abroad/exchange programs•

Testing center•

Volunteer services•

Workstudy center•

Writing lab•

If you are commuting to school, your first “official” encounters on campus are likely to be with representatives of the college's Student Affairs Office or its equivalent. The Student Affairs Office has the goal of maintaining the quality of student life, helping ensure that students receive the help they need. Student Affairs personnel often are in charge of student orientation programs that help new students familiarize themselves with their new institution.

Whatever college representatives you deal with during your first days of college, remember that their job is to help you. Don't be shy about asking questions about what you may expect, how to find things, and what you should be doing.

Above all, if you are experiencing any difficulties, be certain to make use of your college's resources. College success does not come easily for anyone, particularly when it demands juggling responsibilities of work and family. You should make use of whatever support your college offers.

IN PRINT

Been There, Should've Done That: 995 Tips for Making the Most of College (Front Porch Press, 2008), offers a wealth of information on college life from a student's vantage point.

Gail Wood's book How to Study: Use Your Personal Learning Style to Help You Succeed When It Counts (Learning Express Press, 2000) provides an introduction to learning styles, offering tips and suggestions for making use of the way that you learn.

Finally, to learn more about first-year classmates across the United States, take a look at John Pryor and colleagues' The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 2011 (Higher Education Research Institute, 2011). The book provides a comprehensive look at the attitudes and opinions of first-year college students.

ON THE WEB

The following sites on the Web provide the opportunity to extend your learning about the material in this chapter. Although the Web addresses were accurate at the time the book was printed, check the P.O.W.E.R. Learning website (www.mhhe.com/power) for any changes that may have occurred.

The Learn More Resource Center, sponsored by the state of Indiana (www.learnmoreindiana.org), provides information on a variety of useful topics regarding adjustment to college life, including comments by students on their experiences. It covers such topics as where to live, how to select classes, how to study and learn, and much more.The U.S. Department of Education offers Preparing Your Child for College: A Resource Guide for Parents (www.ed.gov/pubs/Prepare/index.html/). Although geared toward parents'

concerns, the publication offers answers to a host of valuable questions such as “Why attend college?” and “What kinds of jobs are available to college graduates?”The University of South Dakota (http://people.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/learning-style/) offers a number of self-assessments on topics such as learning about learning styles, understanding the differences among auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners; and identifying your own learning style

The Case of …Doubting in Denver

It was during the second week of classes that the questioning started. Until then, Jesse had been fairly confident in his decision to enroll at a college in the Denver suburbs to gain training to be a medical technician. He had been excited to try something new and to start a new career, but more and more he was wondering if he'd made the right choice.

To get to campus, Jesse had to take a forty-five-minute bus ride, because his wife needed the car to get to her office in downtown Denver. Jesse was also keeping his part-time job as an executive assistant at a doctor's office, a job that meant another long commute. And on top of that, Jesse needed to find time among work, classes, and studying to help care for his five-year-old son.

Maybe, Jesse was beginning to think, college hadn't been such a good idea. True, he could earn more money as a medical technician and begin a more promising career. But was it really worth all this added time and stress? Plus, Jesse had never done very well academically. Why would college be any different? If he wanted to make more money, he could just add more shifts at his current job.

Why bother with college? Jesse thought to himself. What an expense, and what a hassle. For what?

What arguments could you provide Jesse as to the value of a college education?1.

Do you think that Jesse's doubts are common?2.

What might you suggest that Jesse do to help deal with his doubts about the value of college?

3.

Why might a student's doubts about the value of college be especially strong during the beginning weeks of college?

4.

Do you share any of Jesse's concerns about the value of a college education? Do you have additional ones?

5.

Chapter Photograph Credits

Page 50: © Mel Yates/Stone/Getty Images; p. 54 (top): © Commercial Getty Eye/Iconica/Getty Images; p. 54 (bottom): © Nick White/Digital Vision/Getty Images; p. 56: © Rubberball/Getty Images RF; p. 61: © Jupiterimages/Workbook Stock/Getty Images; p. 62: © Fancy Photography/Veer RF; p. 64: © C Squared Studio/Getty Images RF; p. 66: © Mike Kemp/Rubberball Productions/Getty Images RF; p. 67: © WireImage/ Getty Images; p. 68: © Digital Vision RF